© IPA, 2006 - Sedimentation in the Modern and Miocene Mahakam Delta, 1998

Chapter 1 - Deltaic Settings

Sandstones deposited in deltaic and coastal environments cover a wide range of sediment facies and
geometries and constitute the majority of the producing hydrocarbon reservoirs in siliciclastic basins.
Deltas have been defined as "a discrete shoreline protuberance formed when a river enters an ocean or
other large body of water" (Elliott, 1986) and are formed by the accumulation of fluvial sediment at a
river mouth on a lacustrine or a marine coastline. All deltas form regressive sedimentary successions
which prograde seaward from a fluvial sediment source on the coast and fill the space available in the
coastal water column (Fig. 1.1). For a delta to form, the volume rate of sediment supplied by the\ river
must be greater than the rate at which sediment is dispersed away from the river mouth by waves and
tides.

Tides and waves can transport fluvially-sourced sediment along the coast over large distances from a
river mouth so that a shoreline can prograde without forming a delta, i.e. a localised coastal
protuberance at a river mouth. V'hen a non-deltaic shoreline progrades, it deposits a regressive
succession similar in many ways to those of deltas. The only sedimentological difference between
prograding coastal and deltaic deposits is the lack of a direct association with a fluvial sediment source
in purely coastal deposits. In many cases however, when limited subsurface data is available, it is
difficult to determine whether a prograding coastal succession is in fact deltaic, i.e. associated with a
localised shoreline protuberance emanating from a river mouth, or "merely" coastal, i.e., representing
shoreline progradation due to sediment transit along the coast from a distant sediment source (Fig. 1.2).

In practical terms, a deltaic setting can be inferred whenever a regressive coastal succession can be
shown to be related to a local source of fluvial sediment. Therefore unless the presence of fluvial or
distributary channel deposits can be clearly demonstrated, the section might represent shoreline
regression due to sediment influx from a distant source, generally by coastal waves or tidal currents. In
certain types of deltas however, such as on high wave energy coasts, there are few fluvial distributaries
and the presence of a fluvial source can often be missed.

In both coastal and deltaic deposits, the primary controls which determine sediment patterns and
reservoir geometry are; (1) the nature and rate of fluvial sediment supply and (2) the type and energy of
coastal sedimentary processes. Depending on the interaction between these two factors, the
morphology and sediment patterns of deltas and coastal deposits can vary substantially. The following
chapter briefly discusses these sedimentological factors and how they determine coastal morphology
and sand geometry.

7
 9 Fluvial
Sediment Supply

I Cross Section I
Fluvial Sediment

*
Influx

% Delta Plain

=H

Substratum

FIGURE 1.1 - Schematic illustration of a regressive sedimentary succession formed by a prograding delta
as it fills in the shelf water column. The main parameter controlling the thickness of the
section is the water depth into which the delta progrades.

8
 Fluvial
0 Sediment Supply

t-- 70's - 700's km +

Prograding Non-Deltaic Coast

Coastal Marsh
or Lagoon
:q / Coastal Marsh
or Lagoon
Beach

Fluvial Distributary
Channel-Fill Shoreface Sand

Upward-Coarsening
Mouth Bar Sand

Offshore Marine Mudstone

Offshore Marine Mudstone

FIGURE 1.2 - Schematic illustration of progradation in deltaic and non deltaic coasts. On deltaic coasts,
progradation is due to a local source of fluvial sediment, whereas on non deltaic coasts the
sediment is transported along the coast from a distant fluvial source.